NHTSA complaint #11694285

Owner complaint summary

I took my 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiese to a Chrysler-Dodge-Ram dealership on 9/23/25 for the High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) safety recall. I was told a part had to be ordered to complete the recall and gave me a rental vehicle. After a few days I contacted the dealership about my repair. They said the wrong part was ordered and the new one was in route. After about a week, I called the dealership again and I was told "the truck won't start and they were working with Stellantis to figure out why." Several more days passed, I called again, they stated that after the new pump was installed and the truck was started it "blew a rod," but they had fixed it, test drove it, and it would be ready for pick up the next day. I picked up the truck on 10/16/25 and drove less than 50 miles (first trip home from the dealership.) While traveling at highway speed on interstate 77 at night, the truck suddenly lost all engine power, a “throttle” warning message appeared, I noticed a strong odor of burnt oil, and I was only able to get from the left passing lane across to the right truck lane, only getting 2 tires on the shoulder (see pic). The truck would not start again, it just made a click-click-click sound. I jumped out of the truck as there was a truck in that lane coming toward me and ran into the woods to escape. I and the truck were nearly struck by traffic.This was a life-threatening situation. Luckily, a Courtesy Patrol saw me and blocked the lane with road flares. Eventually the truck was towed (had to be dragged on to the flatbed). At that time I noticed engine oil was splashed all over the underside of truck. It was towed to the same dealership.This catastrophic failure occurred hours after I was told it was safe to drive.This incident placed my life and the lives of other motorists at extreme risk. A recall intended to improve safety appears to have introduced a new, severe safety hazard. The truck has been at the dealership since 10/17/25 and I have not been updated since.